More Scenery & A Few Birds

December is one of these 'nothing' kind of months. Nothing much new on the bird front and the days are short making it hardly worth travelling any distance. It will be different in January ofcourse when the year list kicks off again.

It was however another bright crisp morning and I wanted to get out and make the most of it. The kind of morning that is infinitely better than the dreary ones that are inevitably still to come. As such I headed down to Newshot Island just North of Erskine on the Clyde Estuary.

The marked paths at Newshot just take you down to a viewing platform overlooking the Clyde. From here any birds on Newshot are at best distant and I spent most of my time just looking at scenery.

Cormorants on the river

Looking East upriver towards Glasgow




The opposite direction towards The Erskine Bridge

There was nothing else for it, in order to see birds I had to get on to Newshot Island itself. Actually fairly easy but involving crossing a barbed wire fence. Never easy for an out of shape 50 year old and I didn't find it easy either.

Once over it is a short walk to the teaming wildlife on the river. Good numbers of Wigeon & Teal, a big flock of Grey Lag Geese. Lapwings, Redshank, Dunlin & Snipe, calling Water Rail and a marauding Sparrowhawk.

Small numbers of Redwing & Fieldfare and Yellowhammer.